Edward Balls: The 19th report of the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) is being published today, covering a range of matters referred to them in October 2009. I am grateful for the careful consideration which the STRB has given to these matters. Copies of the report are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office, the Libraries of both Houses and at www.teachernet.gov.uk/pay.
	The STRB has recommended that revised criteria for payment of allowances to teachers of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are introduced from September 2010. In addition, it recommends that the two discrete values in use currently should be replaced by a range.
	I am grateful to the STRB for these recommendations which will allow teachers of pupils with special educational needs to continue to receive appropriate reward, and subject to consultees' views, I intend to implement new criteria.
	The STRB has also made recommendations concerning criteria for appointments to deputy head and assistant head roles as part of a programme of work on which the STRB has previously made recommendations.
	I note the STRB's recommendations for criteria for these leadership posts and I agree that this work should be taken into account in developing leadership standards and professional responsibilities for all teachers. I would welcome consultees' views on the criteria.
	My detailed response contains further information on these issues.
	The following sets out the full set of recommendations from the School Teachers' Review Body and published in the 19th Report (Cm 7836) on 30 March 2010, together with the response from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. The STRB's recommendations are set out below.
	The 19th report of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) is being published today. It covers the matters referred to the STRB in October 2009. Copies are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office and in the Libraries of both Houses and at http://www.ome.uk.com/STRB_Reports.aspx.
	In making its recommendations, the STRB was required to have regard to items a to f set out in the remit letter of 8 October 2009. This report covers criteria for posts in the leadership group, and for special educational needs payments. I am grateful for the careful and detailed attention the STRB has given to these matters. I am inviting comments on the STRB's report and my response to its recommendations by 29 April 2010.
	Special Educational Needs Allowances
	The STRB has recommended that:
	SEN allowances should continue to be paid to teachers working in specified SEN roles but that the present system of two separate and defined SEN allowances be replaced with spot value allowances that fall within a specified SEN range.
	The new SEN range start at £2,001 and the maximum be set at £3,954, to be uprated in line with any general uprating of teachers' pay. Schools and authorities should determine the spot values for individual posts, taking account of local context and specified factors.
	SEN allowances be paid to those teaching:
	in SEN posts that require a mandatory SEN qualification (all settings);
	in special schools, and in designated special classes or units in schools and local authorities.
	SEN allowances be paid to those teaching in non-designated settings, including PRUs, that are analogous to designated special classes or units where the post:
	involves a substantial element of working directly with children with special educational needs;
	requires the exercise of a teacher's professional skills and judgement in the teaching of children with special educational needs; and
	has a greater level of involvement in the teaching of children with special educational needs than is the normal requirement of teachers throughout the school or authority.
	In other exceptional cases, payment of SEN allowances be at the discretion of the school or local authority.
	Schools and local authorities set out clearly in their teachers' pay policies the arrangements for rewarding teachers with SEN responsibilities.
	I am grateful to the STRB for its consideration of this issue and agree that the two current allowances should be replaced by a range, and the existing criteria revised. I consider that any new criteria should be linked to teaching and learning in all educational settings, and am not therefore convinced of the need for discretion. Subject to consultees' views, I intend to implement revised criteria and an SEN range from September 2010.
	Leadership Group criteria
	The STRB has recommended the following:
	Subject to review in any future STRB consideration of school leadership issues, the STPCD be revised to include the following, with effect from September 2010:
	Before establishing or making an appointment to any deputy head teacher or assistant head teacher post, the relevant body must be satisfied that:
	(i) the post carries a substantial element of whole school responsibility that is not required of all classroom teachers or TLR holders, and
	(ii) the holder of the post plays a major role, with full accountability, under the overall direction of the head teacher, in-
	(a) formulating the aims and objectives of the school;
	(b) establishing, developing and implementing the policies through which they are to be achieved;
	(c) managing staff and resources to that end;
	(d) monitoring progress towards the achievement of the school's aims, objectives and policies; and
	(e) undertaking any professional duties delegated by the head teacher, including, for example: duties that impact on the standards of achievement and behaviour of pupils across the school; duties that involve working with external bodies and agencies; or duties that impact on securing pupils' access to their educational entitlements.
	That there should be an additional requirement for deputy head teacher posts to carry a level of responsibility exceeding that expected of an assistant head teacher employed in the same school, including, when appropriate, responsibility for discharging the responsibilities of the head teacher in his/her absence.
	I am grateful to the STRB for its detailed consideration of this issue and I welcome the recommendations for criteria for deputy and assistant head posts. I believe that this work should be taken into account in developing leadership standards and professional responsibilities for all teachers. I agree that pay arrangements for the leadership group should continue to be taken forward by the STRB in the course of a future remit. I would welcome consultees' views on the criteria which I will consider when developing criteria for implementation in 2010.

Andy Burnham: Today the Government are laying before Parliament the White Paper, "Building the National Care Service" (Cm 7854).
	We have listened to the views of the public and stakeholders through the 2008 engagement process and the 2009 Big Care Debate. The Big Care Debate received over 28,000 direct responses, with more than 40,000 people contributing to the debate through further research or events organised by stakeholders. The consultation showed that there was strong support for our vision of a National Care Service and while there was no clear consensus on funding, the comprehensive option was the most preferred. Today we have published an independent summary of the consultation alongside the White Paper and placed a copy in the Library.
	We also held a Care and Support Conference last month with the Care and Support Alliance and other key stakeholders. They urged us to push forward with reform and favoured the comprehensive option.
	We believe the time has come to build a comprehensive National Care Service. This will be for all adults in England with an eligible care need, providing free care when they need it-whoever they are, wherever they live in England, and whatever condition leads them to need care. It will give everyone the peace of mind that they and their families will be cared for should the need arise, and it will mean that no one need live in fear of losing their home or their savings to pay for care.
	The Government's vision is for a National Care Service that gives people choice and control, and is focused on keeping people well and independent. It will ensure that different parts of the system work better together, with a new duty for NHS bodies and local authorities to deliver integrated care.
	Millions of people care for a family member or friend. This is the hallmark of a civilised society. But we must do more to give support to those who provide such care. Building on the carers' strategy, the National Care Service will support those caring for others by improving the quality of formal care, and working with employers and Job Centre Plus, to help carers to live the life they want to live.
	We recognise that building the new National Care Service will be one of the biggest changes to the welfare state since the creation of the NHS. We are also creating it during a period of fiscal consolidation. Reform to social care must be consistent with our plans for fiscal consolidation and reflect the tough decisions that will need to be made in the next spending review. This means we need to build the new service in stages.
	The first stage is to create a step change in the provision of services in the home and in our communities. These services are essential if we are to ensure that more people are supported in their homes. Central to this is the Personal Care at Home Bill, to be implemented in 2011, enabling us to provide free personal care for people in their own home for those with the highest needs. The first stage of reform will also see reablement services available in every community, ensuring that there is a service by which people are supported to regain their independence and confidence when they need home care for the first time. As part of the first stage we will push forward with existing reforms that are already delivering real benefits for people such as the dementia strategy, the carers' strategy and Putting People First.
	The second stage of reform, during the next Parliament, will be to put in place the building blocks of a national system of care and support, in particular the establishment of clear, national standards and entitlements. We will introduce a National Care Service Bill early in the next Parliament as a major step forward. From 2014, care entitlements will be extended meaning that anyone staying in residential care for more than two years will receive free care after the second year. The first and second stages together will mean that the most vulnerable in our society, those with the highest needs, will be protected from very high care costs and that many more people will be supported in their own homes.
	During the next Parliament, we will take further steps towards the full reform of the system-moving towards the third stage in which the comprehensive National Care Service becomes a reality, with care free when people need it.
	To do this will require everyone to contribute through a fair care contribution. So at the start of the next Parliament, we will establish a Commission to help to reach consensus on the right way of funding the system. The Commission will determine the fairest and most sustainable way for people to contribute. It will make recommendations to Ministers which, if accepted, will be implemented in the Parliament after next. The Commission will determine the options that should be open to people so that they have choice and flexibility about how to pay their care contribution. Our expectation is that the Commission will consider all the various options for payment put forward by stakeholders and the public as part of the Big Care Debate and at the Care and Support Conference.
	"Building the National Care Service" (Cm 7854) is in the Library and copies are available to hon. Members from the Vote office.

David Hanson: This week marks the end of phase 2 of the tackling knives and serious youth violence action programme (TKAP). Over the past 12 months, we have targeted nearly £7 million of funding on 15 high priority areas and the British Transport Police in order to reduce serious youth violence.
	Last week's deaths of two young people in London was a stark reminder, if one were needed, of the need for our continued action in this area. We are committed to reducing serious youth violence to make sure that no families face the devastation that these young people's families are suffering.
	We are focused on tougher enforcement, tougher sentences and new legislation to tackle violent crime and gangs. We increased the starting tariff for a life sentence for adults committing murder using a knife or other weapon taken to the scene to a minimum 25 years in prison.
	We will publish detailed results from the programme in the summer, but across England and Wales as a whole the picture is encouraging. Recorded crime statistics show that in the period April to September 2009 covering the first six months of phase 2 of TKAP, there was a 7 per cent. fall in recorded knife crime, compared with the same period the previous year, including a 34 per cent. fall in homicide with a knife/sharp instrument -100 homicides involving a knife/sharp instrument in April to September 2009 and 152 in April to September 2008. These statistics build on annual figures for 2008-09 which saw a 7 per cent. drop in knife/sharp instrument homicides, compared with 2007-08.
	Over 100 hospitals are now sharing A&E data with local police and community safety partnerships in England and Wales, to enable targeted local enforcement and other activities to reduce violence. The Home Office has provided £300,000 to eight TKAP police forces for nine Portcullis Operations, an intensive enforcement and prevention tactic. Increased police activity has led to 736 arrests, 23 knives and one shotgun being recovered, and over 20,000 people passing through knife arches. In addition, street based teams have worked with over 1,500 young people.
	But preventing serious violence is about more than tough enforcement; it is also about prevention. There have been over 22,000 after-school patrols in TKAP areas over the same period, engaging with over 67,000 young people and signposting over 13,000 young people to positive activities.
	Where young people have been involved in knife crime, we have worked hard to ensure that they receive appropriate education and rehabilitation to teach them about the dangers of knives. The Youth Justice Board rolled out the knife crime prevention programme to all 97 youth offending teams in the 15 TKAP areas with the aim of reaching 2,000 young people cautioned or convicted of knife crime in the TKAP areas by the end of 2010, to bring home to them the consequences of carrying a knife.
	All of this activity to tackle serious youth violence will not stop at the end of TKAP 2. A third phase of TKAP begins on 1 April 2010 aiming to continue our work to keep young people safe. TKAP 3 will make £5.5 million of Government funding available to local TKAP areas: £4 million to local community safety partnerships, on top of £1.5 million already announced for 150 local voluntary organisations receiving help from the Home Office community fund. In 2010-11, we will focus the TKAP programme on 52 community safety partnerships within 21 police forces. The British Transport Police will receive also TKAP funding and support. Agencies in these local areas know that serious youth violence matters to their communities and they want to do all they can to prevent and reduce it.

High-level Meeting on HIV (East and Southern Africa)

Her Majesty's Land Registry (Key Performance Indicators and Targets)

Michael Wills: The following list sets out the key performance indicators and targets that have been set for Her Majesty's Land Registry for 2010-11.
	Customer Service
	Speed
	Percentage of all registrations processed within 15 working days: 80 per cent.
	Accuracy
	Percentage of registrations processed free of any error: 98.5 per cent.
	Quality
	Percentage of manually processed registrations on which key aspects(1) of internal quality measures were achieved: 97 per cent.
	Overall Satisfaction
	Percentage of customers who rate the overall service provided by Land Registry as excellent, very good or good: better than 95 per cent.
	Financial
	Percentage return on average capital employed: 3.5 per cent.
	Efficiency
	Cost per unit in cash terms(2) (real terms3): £33.65 (£21.70).
	Other strategic targets
	Percentage of transactions(4) delivered through e-channels: 65 per cent.
	Through voluntary registration, add a further 250,000 hectares of land to the total areas of registered freehold land in England and Wales.
	Earn a contribution from add value products and services of 8 per cent. of its income net of direct costs and apportioned product development costs.
	Increase gross incremental revenue from all add value products and services by a further £2.6 million above 2009-10 actual.
	(1)The specified key areas are (a) the index map (b) the proprietorship entry and (c) easements.
	(2)Based on the GDP deflator issued by HM Treasury on 24 March 2010 (base year 1992/3).
	(3)The real term unit cost in the base year of 1992/3 was £30.65.
	(4)Transactions are defined as any request for a statutory service provided by Land Registry. Although a transaction has a unit value, this measure reflects the actual number of transactions and not their unit value.

Probation Trusts

Rights, Responsibilities and Values

Fatal Construction Accidents